Lab Rat
by SeasprayLuv
Summary: When Doug Rattmann decided to work for Aperture Science, even he didn't realize just how bad things were going to get... or that his only hope would be a mute girl whose best defense is her amazing tenacity. A written version of Portal's "Lab Rat" comic.
1. Chapter 1

**** Author's Note: Okay. Well, what I've come up with here is a written version of the 'Lab Rat' comic. I've been trying to overcome this awful writer's block, and I read somewhere that the best way to get over writer's block is to use prompts, or to rewrite stories that you already know. We'll see I guess. ****I've added a little bit here and there... so... yeah. Still, not my story at all. I'm honesty a new Portal fan, so IF I did somehow totally mess up something, please let me know! I'd hate to slaughter the story... (I know I rage when somebody else does.) Enough of my ramblings though. Hope you like it! - SeasprayLuv [There's a link to the comic on my page!]****

****Yes, I've posted this story a few times. I was having some technical problems with the story after I edited, I know, excuses excuses... I'm sorry for the inconvenience.****

***No, I don't own The 'Lab Rat' comic, Portal, The Portal gun, Doug Rattmann, The Companion cube, The Turrets, Aperture Science/Aperture labs, The Enrichment center, GLaDOS or Chell. Does that cover everything? Oh, the cake! I don't own the cake either. GLaDOS never would give me a piece.***

Portal 2: Lab Rat

He swept a paint stained hand through his hair, dipping his brush back into the orange paint. People had to know about this girl. Chell. The only one that he was sure could beat _her_. Thinking about the monster lurking around the compound, leading this poor girl closer and closer to her own death made him feel guilty...guilty among many other things. Hopeful and desperate were good examples. This place was a living nightmare. The sad, simple truth, as it stood, was that the cake was a lie. He hoped that Chell realized that. How long ago had it been sense he'd figured this out himself? He reached as far above his head as he could, carefully painting with the skilled strokes of an artist.

"It's getting hard to tell what is real..."

"_It's alright_." a soft voice filled the small room he was now hiding in.

"Please be a little quieter, she will find us if we aren't careful."

The companion cube let out a small sigh and continued..."_Reality is a story the mind tells its _

_self. Remember? You told me this._"

Rattmann looked over his shoulder at his friend, letting out a small laugh.

He mumbled with her, quietly trying his best to think straight, "Reality is a story the mind tells its self." another wide, purposeful stroke of orange on the clinically cold wall. "An artificial structure conjured into being by the calcium ion exchange of millions synaptic firings ..." He dipped the brush into black paint, and started painting more words on the wall.

_**Tenacity. **_

_**The cake is a lie. **_

_**Does it feel like a trial? **_

_**Exile. **_

_**Too many Variables. **_

_**The cake is a lie the cake is a lie the cake is a lie the cake is a lie... **_

He let his mind wander across the enrichment center's contents. Thousands of damned souls, a series of chambers designed to "test" these unfortunates. All of these destined to die, probably painfully and cruelly, at _her_ hands. Not only them though... the cores, made out of unfortunate scientists and the equally unfortunate families of these scientists... the relaxation chambers, that often held a false sense of security... nothing here was straight forward.

"A truth so strange that it can only be lied into existence. And our minds... they can lie."

"_Are you okay_?" The cube prodded carefully into the mind of her companion, concern saturating her voice. "_We'll get out of here soon... and then we don't have to ever think about _her_ again. Doesn't that sound nice Doug?_"

"We'll always think about _her_. See _her _when our eyes close. _She _engraved _herself_ onto our souls." He glanced at his wall, now filled with all the truths Chell would ever need to know. "True, we'll never be free as long as _she's_ alive. Even if in some miraculous turn of events... if _she_ is defeated, _she _will live in our minds, memories and nightmares. We will never be free from _her_." He dropped his brush, letting it splatter what was left of his paint onto the floor. He looked over his shoulder again, at the small opening to his hiding place. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide here forever. They were after him, like always. A schizophrenic's worst nightmare come true. _A REAL_ robot that was _REALLY_ out for his blood. Him and thousands of others. Maybe more.

Soon, he was sure, _she_ would send her hell hounds, the turrets, after him. Had they already been mobilized? Was it too late? He wasn't sure... but they always felt too close, like a hand reaching out to grab his throat to strangle him.

He grabbed his brush, and strapped his cube to his back as he crawled out of his safe haven.

He sprinted through what seamed to be an endless labyrinth of hallways, always looking over his shoulder, and shushing his cube when she got a little too loud. He slowed to catch his breath under one of the millions of windows in the strange building, catching an image out of the corner of his eye. A vibrant splash of color in an otherwise clinical environment. He did a double take, staring at the orange clad girl standing far below him. "Could it be that she's awake after all of this time?"

She started running through the room, right near where Rattman knew the turrets should be. He had been unfortunate enough to run into them once, while he was _'testing'. _His hand absently brushed over a scar near his collar bone. Getting that bullet out had been hell. Surviving... that had been worse. For a while at least.

His hear sank to his feet. Just another lie his mind would tell him. "No, just a figment. If she was real, the turrets would see her too."

"_I wanted her to be real too Doug._" the small voice tried her best to comfort him. "_You know that I'm still here for you. I'll always be here when you need me._"

He opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly, the turrets awakened with a robotic, 'TARGET AQUIRED' accompanied, by red laser light and bullets.

For a moment, he stood... simply staring in shock. "It's her! I knew..." the sentence fizzled off as he realized something, "The end is finally upon us!" He pulled himself from the window as Chell disappeared through a door at the end of the room. There was so much to do...

He ran down familiar halls, knowing that she would be a little too busy to notice him for this short moment. He ducked into a small closet, and looked at the row of lockers. One in particular stood out, his old one. The one with a childish "do not open" sign taped to it. His fingers traced the letters slightly as he released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He opened it, reluctantly looking inside. On a lone shelf, lay a small, innocent enough looking medicine bottle. He stared at the "for the END TIMES" note that had been scribbled in haste, hardly taped to the bottle. for a second as his cube gasped.

"_Don't do it!_"

He pulled his head down in despair, "Please... try to understand."

In his mind, he was transported back in time, back to the times before _she_existed.

* * *

><p>Doug Rattman looked around the hallway a bit skeptically, trying to ignore the feeling that he was being watched. He was tall and lanky, his arms and legs just a bit too long for his pole thin body, extremely pale, all of this topped off with one light blue eye, a darker eye (one pupil larger than the other) and a mop of unkempt black hair. A nervous expression was permanently engraved into his face, from years of trying to ignore that constant gnawing at the back of his mind that said that said that everything was out to get him. Something in his mind... <em>voices... <em>told him that told him that everything bad that could happen was about to happen. To him. To them. To everyone. The huge, dark circles under his eyes were proof of a thousand sleepless nights caused by this constant paranoia.

He walked past tow scientists locked in a heated conversation that halted when he closed in. He could swear that these two, co-workers... his so called 'friends' were talking about him.

"We put cameras in the cameras! He'll never expect it!"

"I know! It's genius!"

How is one actually supposed to feel about the idea of being spied on by... well... everybody? What they were really talking about was anybody's guess. Both walked away, clapping each-other on the back and laughing.

He quickly pulled the paper bag in his hands apart, looking at the innocent little bottle in hands. As much as he hated the fact, it really was the difference between delusional paranoia and a career as a brilliant scientist. He popped two of the pills into his mouth as he got ready to go back to work.

* * *

><p>And then he was back in the present, holding the same bottle in his hands.<p>

"_Come on! You don't need those anymore, you're FINE!_" The cube half screamed in panic. How could he? After all they'd been through together, he would abandon her when he need her the most?

"It's been so long. I've been saving these two for this day." He threw the pills into his mouth, "I'm going to need a clear head for what is to come."

The cube let out a shaken sob as he put a glass of water up to his mouth, "_It'll be the end of us._"

He said nothing.

He ran back out into the hallway, toward the door he knew would let him out of this hell...

He could feel his mind restructure its self, like a giant puzzle, and for a moment it was just like old times. His mind cleared was slowly pushing aside the fog. "There are moments when I can almost see the underlying grammar of this place. An impossibility, some mad architect's opus - A relic from an age that never could've been." He waited for his cube to answer him, but she sullenly declined. He felt so alone without her input. He went on, trying to distract himself from the painful silence. "It's a metastasized anagram of add-ons, additions and appropriations. Building itself out for itself. Beautiful and terrible...and like anything cloned from a cancer cell, probably immortal." the thought made him shudder, but right now there were more things to be worried about. He paused, looking at a sign that reminded him that Aperture Science was not responsible for any eye or toe damage caused by not wearing the recommended safety equipment.

The cube piped up, feeling his worry, "_Stay to the right, turrets ahead on the left!_"

He gulped quietly as he listened to their echoing _Hello's _and _Can-help-you's. _

_Definitely not going that way. He pressed his body up against the wall for a moment, covering his mouth with a hand._

He ducked into one of his old hideaways, and took a long look at just one of his many murals, "Whatever you say." They were always missing something. He pulled out his paintbrush again, dipping it in one of his many buckets of paint. "Another mural to mark the occasion."

He scrawled letters across the wall with slightly trembling hands.

He set his companion cube down on a makeshift table and started painting.

"_Where is the girl now?_" The cube asked quietly.

He slumped down by the wall, folding his arms over his knees. "Oh her way to the final chamber." He set his head down on his arms morosely, trying to ignore the feeling that something bad would happen to her.

"_You mean with HER?_" the cube sputtered in surprise. "_She doesn't have a chance!_"

Rattmann reached over, pulling a folder out from under the paint can. He opened it up, reading it slowly. "Oh, she has more of a chance than you think..." He opened his mouth to say something else, only to have a huge explosion throw him onto his side, and his cube onto the floor. Paper flew through the air as the room shook its self apart. "What was that?" He struggled to push the rubble off of his fragile body. It only took a moment for him to realize something was off. A small whimper came from a nearby pile of rubble. He carefully pulled the cube out of the trash.

"Are you okay?

"_T-the room shook itself to pieces_."

"Like and unbalanced centrifuge."

"_I heard an explosion. What could it mean?_"

He slung the cube over his back and scooped up as much of Chell's file up as he could and then ran out of his room."There's only one thing it _CAN MEAN_."

He ran, and ran and ran, ducking through vents, climbing through holes in the walls... through the very skeleton of the giant known as the enrichment center. He climbed until he reached his objective. There _she_ was, in all her robotic glory. _GLaDOS_. _She_ lie in a pile of her own ruin, sad and vulnerable. Dead. Totally and completely. He stared in awe, "She did it. It's over."

The cube lie silent.

"The ultimate systems crash." Once again, his mind was drawn back into the past.

* * *

><p>Doug was walking up the stairs apprehensively, staring at the huge AI that he was helping build. He shivered as he thought about just how much could go wrong. His thoughts were interrupted by one of his co-workers.<p>

"It's been a hell of a morning. You missed all the fun. We had to hit the kill switch again."

He hurried up the rest of the stairs, staring at the huge AI hanging down from the ceiling.

He shivered again and answered his overly cheerful companion, "Henry, you have a strange idea of fun."

Henry laughed light-heartedly as usual, punching Doug's arm. He turned his laptop where both of them could see it. There wee a few charts up, marking GLaDOS' advancements and fall backs, and then impressively violent videos of her trying to kill everyone involved in the experiment. One of her seceding, pulling a man from his desk and ripping him nearly in half...the man screamed pathetically at the top of his lungs, trying to pull himself back together. The kill-switch was hit. GLaDOS drooped down sleepily as the unfortunate man was taken away. The scientist was named Wheatly or something, if Doug remembered right. In any case, he'd probably end up being used for something. Aperture labs didn't have the funds to be wasteful. He looked away in disgust as Henry went on, "Hey, we're lucky to be working on this." he spun his laptop back and started looking at more figures.

Doug shook his head, "You've got a strange idea of luck, too."

Henry snapped his laptop closed and spun around, smiling hugely, "Think about it! Every generation gets some new frontier to tackle. Einstein got relativity. The NASA Cowboys got the moon. All the easy stuff is taken." He threw his hands up, "I mean take a look around you, we're on the bleeding edge here! Artificial consciousness is the next frontier!"

Doug rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, a small smirk adorning his face. "...and yet

every time we turn it on, it takes a sixteenth of a picosecond before it tries to kill us." That man's screams would haunt him tonight.

Henry sighed, losing his unrealistically cheerful demeanor. "Last time was a tenth of a picosecond. See, we're making progress." he went on, his face becoming more serious, "I'm telling you, this is our generation's moon shoot."

A loud, rumbling voice rudely interrupted the conversation _"Cave Johnson here: You lab boys quit your yappin' and get back to work! I don't pay you to sit around and talk about lipstick and feelings!" 'This has been a pre-recorded message'_

_I really do wish he'd stop making those. _

Doug looked away from Henry, a morose look on his face, "I'd rather have gone to the moon."

* * *

><p>He was brought back into the present, by his cube's voice, "<em>Where's the girl? She didn't stay to check out her handiwork?<em>"

Rattmann shook his head slightly, as he put his cube back on his back. "She must have gotten out. Probably on the surface, soaking up some sun." He smiled at the prospect. When was the last time any of them had felt that kind of warmth?

The cube piped up in agreement, "_I'm sure you're right._" She stopped for a moment, and then went on in a sheepish, embarrassed tone, "_What is this "sun" of which you speak?_"

He pulled her onto his back and started to move, feeling all the activity around himself. Surely, the turrets and other robotic monstrosities in the base would be in a state of disarray. Their metaphorical queen had just been violently deactivated. "And she had the right idea. Come on, we're wasting daylight."

"_Watch out for the turrets, the queen may be dead, but this hornet's nest has been kicked._"

He nodded in a agreement as he ran for the exit.

And there it was.

He pushed through the doors, suddenly finding himself immersed in the light of the sun, and fresh, clean air. A scream of 'FREEDOM!' erupted from his lips as his cube hissed at the sun.

As fast as his celebration of freedom overtook him, he was overwhelmed by another feeling entirely. "Shh, quiet down cube. I hear something."

She could sense it too, "_Quick! Get down before it sees you_!"

And there he saw it. Chell, his savior. His only hope... she was being pulled back into_ that place_. He watched with wide eyes as he ducked a little farther behind a well constructed pile of rubble. "No! It's dragging her back inside." She lie defenseless as the Party Escort roughly dragged her back into the living hell that was the Aperture lab. As he watched, his shock slowly evaporated, his face falling into a stern grimace.

Once again, he remembered.

* * *

><p>Doug worked studiously, writing notes about an updated version of the portal device that he'd been working on. He knew that it was close to being finished... so close. He wiped the sweat off of his face as he connected a few brightly colored wires. This gun was fantastic! Not only could it shoot portals at greater distances, it also had a tractor beam for picking up anything from the insignificant weight of a potato, to who knows what else. There would have to be a lot of testing on this one. <em>No sir, we aren't banging rocks together here.<em> he laughed absently, thinking about the founder of Aperture. He set down the device and wrote a few quick notes. His chain of thought was interrupted by the cheerful voice of his partner Henry.

"Hey, Doug, can I get a hand here?" He stumbled in awkwardly, holding what looked like a giant eye in his arms.

He shuddered at the thought, "Um, sure."

Henry held it up, a focused look on his face. " Just reach inside, past all those gears and turn on the power supply." Doug shrugged, apprehensively reaching toward the inside of the deadly looking "eye". Just as he was about to reach in, he was interrupted, "Wait a sec. Safety first. Are you right handed or left?"

"Right" He said, holding up a thin finger.

"Better use your left then." Henry mumbled with a serious look.

"Why?" Doug asked absently as he reached inside.

"Just in case."

He looked inside at the sharp looking cogs. Getting a hand stuck in there would _not_ be a good idea. He switched it on, pulling his hand quickly to safety as the cogs started turning with finger crushing mechanical purpose. Henry made a move to walk out of the lab, a deep, thoughtful look on his face. It was one that Doug wasn't accustomed to seeing.

"What is that thing, anyway?" He tucked his hand inside his pocket, playing a little with the fabric. He was suddenly very thankful for his fingers.

Henry smiled lightly, looking very tired, "Just the latest in AI inhibition technology." He moved a little closer, letting Doug get a better look, " You can think of it as a conscience."

Doug almost laughed at the absurdity of the idea. He took a breath and tried to regain his composure. "What?" Henry chimed in, right on cue.

"If that's all you use to control her, it won't be enough." He crossed his arms, a worried look plastered to his face. I have a feeling, this is the look I'm going to wear for the rest of my life...

"Why's that?" Henry's voice was serious.

Doug sighed..."You can always ignore your conscience."

Oh... and how right he was.

* * *

><p>He was snatched back into the present by a quiet, comforting voice, "<em>You don't have to go back in there.<em>"

He shook his head, a look beyond depression set in on his features, "I can't just walk away."

"_You're right_!" The cube added shrilly, "_Walking is too slow. Run away_."

He slumped forward, a gesture of defeat, "Running is what I've been doing. Running and hiding."

"_It's why you're still alive._" She was calm, "_You're not a hero. Heroes die._"

A spark of guilt flashed in his eyes, "You don't understand. It's my fault she's down there. I'm not leaving her. I would have been trapped forever if not for her."

"_Listen, it's too dangerous. You're going to get killed._"

"So be it. But I'm done running. I have to at least try to save her. At least that."

"Then you really are crazy."

"Yeah." he sighed as he looked back at his personal hell, "Yeah, that's what they tell me."

**(End Chapter 1)**


	2. Chapter 2

Portal 2: Lab Rat

Part 2

Doug ran back inside the building, throwing caution to the wind. This was so unlike him. His face was dark with urgency as he ran through the facility's buzzing skeleton, jumping over piles of rubble, and ducking through jagged holes in the normally white-washed walls. His legs and lungs burned as he ran, but there was no time for him to stop.

Not a moment for rest.

There was a small groan from his back, _"I'm not feeling so good. Those pills you took... I think the medicine is starting to work." _Her voice was soft and sweet as he ran. It faded, even softer, "_Soon, you won't even need me anymore."_

His voice came out in a panicked rush as he cried out, "I'll always need you!"

She coughed. Her voice came out faded, _"I don't think you will."_

There was no time to mourn her though. As her beautiful, melodic voice faded into oblivion, he stumbled upon the long-term cryo-suspension station. "No." His voice was filled with horror, "They've already put her in long-term relaxation!"

He stared into the small hotel-like room. She lie on the bed, like a child on the sacrifice alter of some pagan god. He turned around quickly, almost tripping over his feet in urgancy. _That's exactly what she is. A sacrifice waiting for a dead 'god'._

He ran as fast as he could, his eyes searching the cracked metal walls, "I need to get up to Cryo-control, but turrets block the way!" He pulled open a fuse box on the wall. His voice was saturated with fear.

His mind reeled. _Her cryo-chamber... something's wrong. _

His eyes shot open in shock as he looked across the board. A terrifying realization exploded into reality.

"Life support has been compromised! The explosion blew the main grid... her chamber! It's off-line! _All the cryo-chambers are off-line!"_

For a moment he covered his mouth, worried something may have heard him. _Is it really that?_ He asked himself. _No. She_ was dead. Even though he felt like _she_ was still watching him with blood lust, that wasn't it. His mind drew back to the surface.

"_You're not a hero. Heroes die."_

He sighed hugely. No, he wasn't a hero. He was a fearful, frail, schizophrenic scientist who had been trapped and terrorized by a computerized beast who was now dead. He had been running and hiding, letting Chell do all of the work.

_But... maybe I can be. For her at least. _His face filled with hero's resolve_. She saved me. I owe her at least this. I can AT THE VERY LEAST save her life._

He ran down a million halls until he reached a ladder with light at the top.

_Here I am._

_Why isn't she talking to me? I can't do this by myself!_

"I'm only gonna get one chance." His panted heavily, fearful tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"I have to cross the room..." No answer

"Get past the turrets," She was silent.

"Jump the rail." He knew why, deep down... but he didn't want to admit it to himself.

"... Then dive left or right to avoid being shot." He waited for her to answer, but was only met with cold silence.

"Okay, do I dive left or right?" His voice had become more desperate.

"Hello? You still back there?" Nothing. He slumped over, giving one last attempt. "Left or right? Don't make me guess! I'm running out of time!" She lie silent.

_You're not there, are you? So I'm alone. All... all alone. _

He shook it off, trying to be brave. "Well, ready or not..." He charged out, feeling the slight glance of the deadly millitary turrets as he went. Their words were mush in his ears. He ran faster than he'd ever gone before, and then he felt it.

The bullet threw him off of his feet, tearing deep into his leg. A pitiful scream escaped his mouth as he hit the ground.

Far enough away from the turrets that he wouldn't be killed, in the very least.

He struggled to control his erratic breathing as invisible fire ran up and down his leg. He was paralyzed. Perhaps with fear, or maybe pain. He wasn't so sure at this point in time. He felt the blood seep out of the hole dangerously fast. _Oh, no..._

He felt himself slipping. He reached out for the only security he knew. The cube was just out of his reach as he painfully stretched, dragging his injured leg across the floor with a bloody streak.

His eyes were growing heavy, along with his body. _Must._

Was he falling? _Stay._

He was engulfed by the darkness, falling for miles and miles. There was no reality, no ground, no nothing. It was just nothing. He fought, holding onto the last thread of awareness he had in him. _Conscious._

He barely felt it when he slipped under. 

* * *

><p>GLaDOS shifted slowly in her huge "body", looking for him. He could feel her deadly gaze everywhere.<p>

"_The enrichment center would like to announce a new employee initiative of forced voluntary participation." Her slightly monotone voice went on, in almost a cheerful matter, "If any Aperture Science employee would like to opt out of this new voluntary testing program, please remember, science rhymes with compliance." Her voice abruptly changed, from friendly to dark and sinister, "Do you know what doesn't rhyme with compliance? __**Neurotoxin."**_

Bodies were everywhere, littering the floor like mice around poison. All but him. All of the scientists but Doug were dead.

_She continued, her mechanical voice pitching and falling along the way. "Due to high mortality rates, you may be reluctant to participate in the new initiative. The Enrichment Center assures you that this is a strictly selfish impulse on your part, and why can't you love science like [INSERT CO-WORKER'S NAME HERE]?_

Doug looked up from where he was hiding. He was _scared, with good reason. _He was hanging onto his sanity by a thread... one that was wearing dangerously thin.

"_And now there's just you. All others are DEAD."_

He looked up again, and started running.

"_You've avoided capture for weeks. What makes you so different?" There was the sound of pages rustling softly throughout the facility. She let out a soft Ahh. "...Delusions of persecution, pathological paranoia; it's all right here in your file. Have you refilled your prescription lately?" _

"**Bite me.**" he growled harshly as he got ready to drop down off of a ledge.

"_In technological societies, this manifests as delusions of surveillance and a belief that advanced technology is deployed against you, usually with some vague unseen "other" out to get you."_

He dropped down, hitting the ground with a thump and a slight grunt, "You're not vague. You're pretty damn specific."

_GLaDOS continued in a slightly threatening tone, "If you continue to selfishly evade me, it's not going to reflect well in your file."_

He ran even faster, now with reason, "Of course! **THE FILES!**" He dashed down the hall, dropping through a vent. He landed in a room filled with filing cabinets and filing boxes.

"_I can't see you, but I know you're in there. Is it just a coincidence that you've been diagnosed with schizophrenia and now believe a homicidal computer is out to get you? Come on! How likely is that?" She paused, but only for a moment, "I mean really, you're a scientist. What is more likely, that you're being chased by a homicidal computer, or that all this is just the paranoid delusion of an unstable mind?"_

He rummaged through a drawer, looking for one file in specific. He let out a sharp hiss as his finger started to bleed, _Ow, paper cut! _He ignored the small annoyance as he went on.

"Why not come out of there, and you'll see. None of this is real."

He pulled out a file, flipping through the pages frantically.

"_I'd ask you to think outside the box on this, but it's obvious your box is broken. And has schizophrenia. Speaking of boxes... do you know that experiment with the cat in the box with the poison? The theory requires the cat be both alive and dead until observed. Well, I actually preformed the experiment. Dozens of times. The bad news is that reality doesn't exist. The good news is that we have a new cat graveyard." an uneasy silence filled the building. "Why are you in the file room? What could you possibly be doing?"_

His face lit up as he opened the file, a thin film of sweat covering his brow, " _Yes! _This is the one!" He sat down at the computer, holding the file gently between his teeth as he typed._ It has to be her. _

"_In the event you don't survive the testing process, DNA may be harvested from your body – with your consent- and used to create clones in the furtherance of science. Failure to survive the testing process shall be viewed as granting consent." A short pause. She went on, a cruel tone to her voice, "Also, clones don't have souls. Just so you know... like twins."_

He scrolled up and down the screen until he found her name, testing number 1498. Chell. Her last name was redacted, why even he couldn't guess. He moved her up, to spot number one.

_This girl. She'll make a difference. She can stop this. She has to._

_-Test subject order modified. 10%...52%...88%..._

* * *

><p>He felt the floor under him as his eyes opened slowly, very blurry. He moaned softly as he tried to move his leg. The pool of blood underneath him made him gasp. <em>Oh, that's right. I got shot.<em>

His eyes focused slowly, still blurry around the edges, taking in the scene. The cube lie across the room, silent. He reached out for her, feeling hopelessness hit him like a lead weight when he realized he was still alone.

He laid back down, once again feeling nothing. He fell back under. 

* * *

><p>"<em>Sense the instillation of my new morality core, I've lost all interest in killing. Now I only crave science."<em>

GLaDOS' cold voice worried Doug. He tried to fight a shiver that ran up his spine. Of course, his friend Henry couldn't be more pleased.

"I"m pleased to hear that." he tinkered with a few wires in her console, never letting go of a heavy look of concentration

"I find myself drawn to the study of consciousness. There's an experiment I'd like to preform during "Bring Your cat to Work day."

"Wonderful."It was almost dismissive, like allowing a child to talk to its self endlessly while you ignored them in irritation.

"I'll have the box and the cats. Now I just need one more thing. "

"What's that?"

"_... a little neurotixin."_

Doug looked up in mixed shock and horror. Henry looked up too, Doug hoping it was him agreeing with his terror. A voice screamed in the back of his skull. One that was normally suppressed well by the powerful cocktail of anti-psychotic drugs he had to take.

_You're going to die. You ARE going to DIE. SHE is going to _kill you_. Doug, don't you hear me? You're going to die! DIE! You're going to die. You need to get out, get away from here! Do you want to be killed? No, don't run away! DESTROY HER! KILL THAT THING... the voice screamed on, he had no hope of pushing it back down for now._

He looked at Henry with hope. _Don't let me down. Tell her no. Tell her no._

Henry though for a second, and gave the huge, deadly computer a smile. Doug slunk away from the two of them as he answered, "Well, as long as it's for science!" 

* * *

><p>This time he flew out of his nightmares, catapulted into brilliant light by a sudden realization. Something he couldn't quite grasp...<p>

A hushed mumble slipped from his sticky, chapped lips. "How long have I been out?"

He heard a small sigh of relief come from the cube next to him. "_Long enough."_

"You're back." his voice broke over the last word.

"_I never left you."_

He let out a small sob. She was right. She was always there when he needed her.

She coughed, uncomfortable at this unusual show. "_There's something I wanted to ask._"

She paused, letting the wounded man compose himself.

_"How did you know about the Girl?"_

"Know what?" He asked quietly, pushing himself off of the floor so he could see her better.

"_That she was the one."_

"It was something in her file."

"_She had the highest IQ?"_

"No, some were higher."

She was confused, _"Then she was the fastest? The most athletic?"_

He shook his head slowly, "No, nothing like that."

She was curious, "_Then what?"_

"A hunch."

He settled back down on the floor, just enjoying her company. _I missed you. I'm so sorry I sent you away._

She suddenly interrupted his train of thought with a sharp gasp, "You might still be able to save her."

"What?" He pulled himself up again, looking at her with feverish intensity, "How? I can't get to her cryo-chamber"

The cube went on, her soft voice full of bitterness, "_You can't free her, but you might save her." _He nodded, at once in accord with his old friend. She went on, "You can patch her cryo-unit into the reserve grid." He pulled himself up onto the controls, typing with the quick precision only possessed by scientists,_"You can reset the fuses and restart her life support.. if it's not too late already."_

"But even if it works, there will be no wake-up date. She'll be in there indefinitely." He typed commands, digging though Aperture's mainframe, "So it's the long sleep..."

A window popped up on the monitor, showing the sleeping form of his defenseless savior.

"... or the long sleep. And... I don't know which is worse."

He gave the command.

"Forgive me."

There was a soft woosh as the systems came online, suddenly blowing her hair about like a soft spring breeze.

"It worked!" his moment of celebration was cut short as he thought about the gravity of her situation, but what was to be done? " Sleep well."

_Both alive and dead, until someone opens the box._ He nodded at the thought as he was hit with a wall of fatigue. He pulled his too heavy body over to a small cryo-chamber across the room, weakly leaning against the cool metal. "Maybe it's time I slept, too. I'm so tired now."

"_You've earned a rest"_

He pulled her closer, holding his wounded leg gently. He stepped up on her, crawling into the small pod. "You see, I told you I would always need you."

Pages tumbled out of the bag at his side, but he was too exhausted to care. The top shut with a purposeful whoosh, enclosing him in sleep.

For how long... it was hard to say.

The cube lie quiet by the pod, waiting patiently for him to wake up again some day. She would never die, waiting faithfully until even the end of time... listining to the quiet hum of the cryo-chamber.

Someday though, he would awaken again and bring her back to life. She was sure of this.

Someday, they would escape this place.

Someday... someday they would step into the warmth of the sun, and be free. The sun... that was the giant ball of light in the sky. The sky, that was that big blue thing full of birds and clouds. Birds... what were birds? Just another question to ask him when he woke up again. Soon, hopefully.

All she had to do for now was wait for her friend to come back. That, and to look at the papers settling around her.

Her name was Chell. She had no last name. The scientists had taken it away.

She was abnormal.

No, not because she was mute. It wasn't that she was incredibly smart or even incredibly strong. Her greatest weapon was her tenacity. Her inability to give up without fighting like hell.

She looked across the floor, at a page with a graph on it, her gaze falling on the words scribbled in the messy penmenship of her beloved friend;

_'Test subject is abnormally stubborn. She never gives up. Ever.'_

_**REJECTED**__. __**DO NOT TEST.**_

**[ The End ]**


End file.
